


The man with the hat

by FallenBelieves



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29630802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenBelieves/pseuds/FallenBelieves
Summary: The man, the things he told him. What would he do?





	The man with the hat

“You have 24 hours of life left, will you hold your head high? Will you give your loved ones these last 24 hours of life? Will you be generous, or selfish with your last 24 hours of life?” That’s what the man with the hat had said. The man with the hat was tall, towering over him. It wasn’t that strange, he wasn’t very tall, and was young. He hadn’t had his growth spurt yet. The man’s face was impossible to see, as if there was a shadow in front of it. He guessed there was, the man wore a hat after all. It must have been a fedora. That’s the only hat he could really think of at least. He also wore a suit. Black with purple accents. He thought it must have been Italian, he remembered seeing a similar suit in a fashion show his mother had dragged him to.  
The man with the hat hadn’t had a name. At least, he said he didn’t. “Someone like me doesn’t have a name, and if we do, we have many. We don’t need them though. You mortals are silly with your need to give names to everything. We exist, just like the trees, the various animals. The difference is that we are eternal. We have lived forever, and we will live forever.”  
The man with the hat had ended the conversation by saying he hoped he had been right about him. That he was not selfish, like the man’s sister thought. After that, he woke up. Meaning it must have been a dream. Though it was definitely different from other dreams he could remember. Those were always vague, and strange. Very strange. Incredibly strange. That wasn’t right though was it? The man with the hat ended the dream by giving him a watch, which he said would show the time left. Not like he actually believed that. After all, he had no watch on his wrist.  
The alarm rang. He got up out of bed, turned the alarm off, and looked around his room. It was messy, if you asked his mother. Not that she understood, she didn’t see that it was organized to find everything he would ever need. She was ignorant like that.  
He checked the time, it was seven ‘o clock. Am of course. His mother would never let him get up at pm, no matter what time. He heard some stumbling outside his room. That would be his sister. She was like every other sister in the world. Every older sister at least. Always teasing, but nice in the end.  
He thought about his dream some more as he put on his clothes. There was no watch on his wrists, on his desk, or anyone else in his room. Just a dream, a strange one, but a dream nonetheless.  
He went downstairs, his lessons started at 8:25. Am unfortunately. His sister was already eating. She would need to take the train to get to her university. He still went to high school. He needed about 25 minutes to get there. He left about 10 minutes before eight, to be on the safe side. It was safe, because he often ended up leaving a bit later that planned.  
“There was a package for you with the newspapers.” My parents loved their newspapers, it seemed like there were new ones every days. “Did you hear me?” “I did.” I wondered what it was. I hadn’t ordered anything online. No books, and videogames could all be gotten online nowadays. He looked at the package. There was no way to see who it was from. Maybe it would be inside the package.  
He opened it. Inside the box there was something surrounded by bubble wrap. There was an odd, ticking sound coming from whatever was inside it. He got a sinking feeling. Deep in his gut. He felt like he might get sick. But no, that was irrational. It was just a dream. Wasn’t it? It had to be. This was the normal world, not one of the movies that his sister had watched. This was the real world, not Harry Potter, Percy Jackson or whatever else she watched. Right? He unwrapped the bubble wrap. Something black appeared. Black, with purple accents. The ticking continued. It sounded louder. But that was stupid. The watch appeared. It was a little before seven, but that wasn’t right. It was still ticking. He followed the large arrow. It was moving back. A minute ticked by as he stared it in horror. He felt sick, cold, hot and he was terrified. It must have been a dream. Right? Wasn’t it? He shivered. It must’ve been, right? This was the normal world. It can’t be real. Can it. Please don’t let it be real.


End file.
